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B. B. KAHN MAGAZINE TYPE SOLID FUEL BURNING HEATER April 29, 1952 Filed Jan. 25, 1947 las m7 3o 3/.28

April 29, 1952 B. B. KAHN ETAL 2,595,146

MAGAZINE TYPE SOLID FUEL BURNING HEATER Filed. dan. 25. 1947 zsaETs-SHEET 2 Patented Apr. 29, 1952 MAGAZINE TYPE SOLID FUEL BURNING HEATER Bertrand B. Kahn, Cincinnati, and Paul F. Metz, Hamilton, Ohio, assignors to Noma Electric Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Maryland Application January 23, 1947, Serial No. 723,822

2 Claims. l This invention relates to radiant heaters designed to burn solid fuels.

One of the principal objects ofv the invention is to provide an improved radiant heater constructed of comparatively few and simple parts;

and which is adapted to contain a relatively large supply of solid fuel and to consume this fuel at a readily controllable rate to heat the.

surrounding space with high efficiency and' for a substantial period of time without requiring refueling.

Another object is to providev such a heater in which the gases distilled from the solid fuel are consumed at the sides and top of the heater in close proximity to heat-radiating surfaces, with loose fuel bed assuring adequate draft therethrough to maintain proper combustion.

An additional object is to provide such a heater wherein the gases distilled from the solid y1 5 resultant coking of the solid fuel to provide a` fuel are drawn off from the fuel magazine at different levels and either burned at the sides of the heater or bypassed around the unburned solid fuel and then returned to the magazine for combustion at a position above the fuel bed, and;-`

outer wall of the heater and connecting with the interior of the magazine at a plurality of points to receive distilled gases therefrom, and particularly to provide such a heater wherein these vertical passages `also serve to convey air from below the magazine to the top of the fuel bed.

Another object is to provide such a heater wherein the passages for conveying air and gases from the lower parts of the heater to the'top thereof are formed in the outer surfaces of the refractory lining enclosing the fuel magazine and are constructed to avoid burning out or overheating ofthe heater casing.

A further object is to provide such a radiant heater wherein the various passages for air and other gases are constructed to avoid resistance to upwardly moving gases in operation and also to reduce the possibility of an accumulation of ash tending to clog or choke such passages.

A still further object is to provide such a radiant heater having a shaker bar of special construction adapted not only for use in shaking the grate of the heater but also serving as a handle for the feed door to the fuel magazine which is normally out of contact with the feed door and thus remains cool for comfortable handling at such times as refueling of the magazine is required.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

In the drawings, in which like characters of reference designate like parts throughout- Fig. 1 is a view in vertical section of a heater constructed in accordance with the invention,

the view being taken on line I-I of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of the heater shown in Fig. 1 and on a reduced scale;

Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an elevational View illustrating the combined shaker bar and feed door handle for the heater shown in Figs. 1-3;

Fig. 5 is a detail view in vertical section illustrating the use of the shaker bar shown in Fig. 4 for shaking the grate of the heater shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a detail view illustrating the use of this shaker bar for raising the feed door of the heater shown in Fig. 1.

The drawings illustrate ya preferred embodiment of the present invention, which includes a generally cylindrical outer casing l0 provided with a top I I of cast iron'or the like formed with a ue collar i2 for connection to a smoke pipe. A plate I3 is mounted within casing l0 and spaced from its lower end, as shown, to support the ash pan I4. An ash pit door l5 is mounted on the front of the casing, las shown in Fig. 2, and provided with an adjustable draft register I6. The lower part of the casing l0 below plate I3 is provided with a plurality of slots I8 for air circulation through this bottom part of the casing to keep the `supporting floorarea cool.

A grate frame 2D is supported within casing I0 above they ash pan. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the`casing is swedged inwardly to provide threeinwardly extending projections 2| angularly spaced above the periphery of the casing, and the grate frame rests on these projections. Also, the grate frame isprovided with spaced pairs culation of air through the grate.

The grate frame 20 supports a rotary grate 25, which is shown as of circular outline and.

is rotatably supported upon a plurality of downwardly and inwardly projecting lugs 2S formed integrally with the grate frame 20, there being four of these lugs as shown in Fig. 3. The rotary grate 25 is formed with radially arranged slots 21 for draft purposes and also with a circular center aperture 28 which is closed by a draw or dump grate 30 of latticed construction. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the dump grate 30 is mounted for sliding movement on a pair of downwardly and inwardly projecting lugs 3l integrally formed -on the rotary grate 25, and it includes a handle portion 33 or shank by which it may be drawn outwardly, to the right as viewed in Figs. 1 and 3, to open the opening 28 in the rotary grate 25 for dumping clinkers and the like. Also, this shank 33 is adapted to receive a shaker Abar for shaking the rotary and dump 'grates back and forth to 'free them of ashes. Two additional downwardly extending lugs 35 are formed on the bottom of rotary grate 25 'and receive the shank 33 in guided relation to prevent the dump grate 30 from cooking and also to prevent its accidental withdrawal too far forward 'of the rotary grate, means such as a Cotter pin 36 being mounted in these lugs as shown in Fig. 1 to retain the shank 33 in properly supported position.

A refractory lining formed of fire bricks 40 is provided withinithe casing l and above the grates. As shown 'in Fig. 3, these fire bricks are arranged to form in cross section the outline of a regular polygon, shown as a hexagon, having straight louter'sides 4I but with the outer corners 42 curved for close engagement with the inner surface of casing 10. This refractory lining is supported on the 'grate frame 20 and forms a fuel magazine above the grate `which is designated generally by the reference character 44. Each of bricks 40 is formed in the flat part 4I of its outer surface with a vertically arranged groove 45 forming a flue, there being thus six of these ilues 45 equally spaced about the interior of the heater as shown in Fig. 3. The nues 45 extend from the grate substantially to the top of casing l0, but each is provided with a plate 45 positioned between the casing and the outer surface'of the re brick and which is bent over at its top 41 to close the top of the flue. These plates 46 thus serve both to shield the casing from flames in the lues 45, to prevent burning out of the casing, and also they prevent discharge from the tops of ilues 45 except through the passages in bricks 4G, as willbe described.

Referring particularly 'to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the refractory lining of the heater is provided with a plurality of vertically arranged rows of passages 50, l and 52 extending completely therethrough, one of these passages in each row being formed in each of the bricks 49 to provide communication at a plurality of points from the interior of the `fuel magazine 44 to each of nues '45. The passages the lowermostof these rows `vof passages are formed in the bottom edges of bricks 40 so that they are bounded on their lowermost sides by the grate frame 20. Also, each of these passages 50 is substantially larger than any of the other passages 5l and 52 in the upper part of the magazine, thus providing for a relatively strong and direct draft through the fuel closely adjacent the grate to the fiues 45 to maintain an active fire in the vicinity of the grate at all times when the heater is in operation. The grate frame 2B is formed as shown in Fig. 1 with a plurality of upwardly projecting lugs 55 which are adapted to extend into and engage opposite sides of each of passages 50 and thus to secure the grate and refractory lining in fixed angular relation. In addition, the grate frame 2i) is inclined inwardly and downwardly below Aeach of passages 5l), as shown at 56 in Fig. 1, to relieve any ash accumulation in these passages 50 and thus to assure that the passages will be kept open for proper draft at all times in operation.

Passages 52 in the `uppermost row in the refractory lining are relatively closely adjacent but spaced downwardly from the top -of the fuel magazine, for example approximately '1.5 inches in a magazine of 15-inch diameter and w-ith the bricks I9 inches in height. These passages '52 thus provide for the discharge of gases from the flues 45 into the fuel magazine, and they are shown as horizontally arranged in order to direct these discharged gases radially into the magazine. The passages 5l in the intermediate rows are inclined upwardly and outwardly, thus giving less resistance to gases moving in an upwardly direction and also safeguarding against the pocketing 4or accumulating `of ashes therein.

The top Il of the heater is cut away to provide an opening having `a door 60 for filling Vthe magazine with fuel. This feed door is Ymounted at El for upwardly swinging Vmovement relative to top vIl to'provide access -to the magazine, and a portion 6210i top Il extends across `the casing below the fiont of Ythe door as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. This feed door 60 is constructed to provide va fixed port for constantly supplying air from outside the vheater lto the .space 63 at the top of and `alcove 'the fuel magazine Las shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the Afront of 'of the door is formed with an outwardly 'projecting .lip portion 55, having its lower edge spaced outwardly from the adjacent portion `62 of the casing and casing top to provide a slot 66 through which air can freely enter the top of the heater, Jas shown by the arrows in Fig. 1. This lip 65 is also formedfas shown in Figs. 1 .and 2, to serve as a handle for lifting the feed door, and it includes at the front a `projecting `flange lil which cooperates with the combined shaker bar and handle member 'of the invention as ldescribed below in connection with Fig. 6.

It will be seen -that since the door 59 :is -di rectly exposed to .the heat from the fire in vthe fuel magazine, and `since it Yis accordingly preferably made .of a `good heat conducting Vand radiating material, it will become .much too lhot in use for convenient handling without adequate protection. The invention accordingly -provides a shaker bar Afor .the grates of the heater which has one end formed for shaking attachment .to the grates and its other end of specialconstruction vfor lifting feed door 5U by means 4of lip E5. This combined shaker -bar `and door lhandle is normally separated 'from the .heater .and thus remains cool 'to the touch and ready for use withprojecting transverse rib 13.

out a cloth, glove-orother protection. Its construction and use are illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6.

Referring first to. Figs. 4 and 5, the bar 10 is formed at its shaker end with a longitudinally extending tongue portion 1| of reduced thickness, leaving a shoulder 12 at the inner end of this tongue. On its opposite side and adjacent tongue 7|, bar 1!) is formed with a laterally The operation of this end of the shaker bar and its inter-engagement with the outer end of the shank 33 on drawgrate 30 are shown in Figs. l and 5. Shank 33 is formed at its outer end with a rib 15 spaced outwardly and upwardly from the axially adjacent lip portion 18 of the shank and leaving a slot 'H therebetween, this construction being complementary to that of the tongued end of member` 'Hl so that these parts readily interengage for shaking the grates.

In use, the handle 'Ill is inserted into the heater, preferably through the draft opening I3 to minimize escape of ashes into the room, and diagonally upward at an angle such that its tongue H and rib 13 will enter the slot 11, until shoulder l2 engages the outer edge of lip 16. Thereafter, the outer end of the handle is raised until it and shank 33 are in line, in which position the tongue 'Il will lie flat against the lip 'i5 on the shank, and the rib 13 on the handle will engage the inner edge of rib 35 on the shank to prevent withdrawal of the handle, with the sides of this end of the bar engaged between the side portions 18 of shank 33 connecting rib 15 and lip 'i6 to provide a firm connection for shaking the grate. I'he subsequent disengagement of the handle may be accomplished in the same manner as its engagement, by lowering the outer end and withdrawing it diagonally downwards from the heater.

The opposite end of the shaker bar from that just described is constructed for inter-engagement with the lip 65 on feed door 60 to serve as a handle in raising and lowering the feed door. Referring to Figs. 4 to 6, it will be seen that this handle end of bar 10 opposite tunnel 1I is formed with three longitudinally projecting finger portions, a middle finger 89 and two outer fingers 8|, spaced as shown in Fig. 5 to denne a slot 82. These fingers and the slot 82 are of such dimensions as to receive the lip portionY 55 on feed door 60 therebetween, as shown in Fig. 6. The middle finger 80 is slightly longer, for example one-eighth of an inch to facilitate rapid engagement with lip 65, in which position the ends of the outer fingers 8| engage the flange 61 at the upper part of the lip, as shown in Fig. 6. With this construction, when it is desired to add fuel to the magazine, it is merely necessary to fit this end of bar 'l0 into engagement with lip 65 and then raise the door for refueling, and a slight angular force on the bar during this operation will readily retain it in gripping relation with the feed door to hold the door from falling either forward or backward at the time of use. In this way the door can readily be handled at any necessary time without any special protection for the hands, since the shaker bar 1E! will normally be kept near but out of contact with the heater and hence will remain suiciently cool for manipulating with the bare hand.

In operation, in order to start a re in this heater, the draft register I6 and the usual damper in the smoke pipe are opened and a small amount of a small coal placed on the grates, to a depth of approximately 2 to 3 inches. Then a quantity of paper is placed on the coal, and kindling wood in small pieces on top of the paper, followed by a small additional amount of coil on the wood. The paper is then ignited and the fire permitted to burn until the kindling and coal are burning well. During this stage of operation, the products of combustion and' gases pass directly`through the center of the magazine and out through the flue collar i2, since the only fuel is at the bottom of the magazine and the remainder is open to provide a stack effect.

After the rst charge of coal has had a good start, more coal is added in small amounts until approximately one-half of the magazine is lled with fuel, withvintervals between the additions of fuel to allow sufficient time for the coal to be burned through. During this stage of operation a large proportion of the products of combustion and gases continue to pass up through the magazine, but some will pass through the passages 50 and the lower passages 5| into ilues 45 and thence through passages 52 to the top of the heater. Also, during this stage there may be a considerable quantity of air drawn up through the grate and the fuel in the vicinity of the grates tothe passage 50 and thence through flues l5 to the top of the heater.

After all the fuel added as described is burning well, the remainder of the magazine can be lled with fresh fuel, care being taken not to fill the magazine beyond the level of the top row of draft passages 52. At this time it is also advisable to close the draft register I6 in the ash pit door until it is only slightly open, thus retarding devolatilization of the green fuel and promoting proper burning of gases on top of the fuel bed. During this stage of operation, the gases distilled from. the fuel pass through the passages 5I and are either burned in the flues 45 or on top of the fuel bed. In some cases it is found that after a full fuel charge is made, it may be some time before the flame appears on top of the fuel bed, and it is at this time that the gases are being burned within flues 45. The arrangement of the top passages 52 in a horizontal plane adjacent the top of the fuel bed provides for improved operation by discharging fiame from the flues 45 into direct contact with the fuel bed and with the gases arising therefrom within the magazine. Also, the air which is admitted through the fixed port 66 provided by the lip E5 on the feed door tends to be drawn across the upper part of the heater toward the flue collar l2 and supplies sucient oxygen for completing combustion of gases which mayaccumulate in the space 6| above the fuel bed.

The operation of the heater as just described is illustrated by the series of arrows in Fig, 1, and it continues until such time as the entire fuel charge within the magazine has been devolatilized. Thereafter the combustion takes place more or less directly through the fuel bed, since by this time the coal has been largely changed to coke, providing a loose fuel bed. During the subsequent burning, since devolatilization of the fuel is substantially complete, the flues 45 will be found to be largely conveying air from the lower part of the heater to the top of the fuel bed and the smoke pipe. Also, during all the stages of operation, there will be a substantial air flow through the grate and passages 50 `to the flues 45, thus assuring the maintenance of an active fire in the vicinity of the grate.

It will accordingly be seen that the invention provides a radiant heater constructed of comparatively few and simple parts and which` is easy to assembly as well as to operate. Such4 a heater, constructed withthe illustrative-dimensions given above, will contain as muchV as 100 pounds of fuel and will operate satisfactorily at rates ranging as widely as from 2 to.'15 pounds of fuel per hour with good response at all times to the air' register setting. The heaters of the invention canV be used with any size-of coal, preferred results being obtained with small' sizes such as chestnut, pea and nut, and they have been tested with coals from widely different sources within the United States, with satisfactory operation. In addition,A these heaters require a minimum of attention after being once well started, operating at a substantially constant rate for many hours withoutV adjustment or refueling, and when shaking or refueling is required, the shaker bar of the invention provides for readily accomplishing either operation quickly and easily and without danger of' burning the hands.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made thereinwithout departing from the scope of the `invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A heater of the character described' comprising, in combination, a cylindrical casing, a refractory lining within said casing forming, a fuel magazine, a grate positioned-below said magazine, a plurality of' angularly spaced inward projections on said casing supporting said grate, a plurality of downward projections on said'grate cooperatingwith said inwardprojections on said casing to secure said grate and casing-in xed angular relation, said lining having vertically arranged nues formedinthe outer surface thereof and angularly spaced aboutsaid heater, means providing for admission ofa'ir to-saidiflues from below' said grate, said lining havingY a plurality of vertically spaced rows of passages formed therethrough and communicating with said iiues to convey gases from'V theV interior of saidv magazine to said flues, the passages inr thelowermost of said rows being formed in the lower" edge of said lining, and means4 on said grate engaging opposite sides of at least one of said lowermost passages to secure said limng-and gratexinxed angular relation.

2'. A heater of the character described comprising, in combination, a casing, a grate within said casing, means projecting inwardly from said casing to support said grate above the bottom level of said casing, a refractory lining supported on said grate and forming a fuelV magazine, a

door at the tcp of said heater to provide for filling said magazine with fuel, said lining having vertically arranged iiues formed in the outer surface thereof and angularly spaced aboutl said heater, means positioned between said iiues' and said casing to shield said casing from direct contact with names in said nues and extending across and closing the top of said fiues, said' lining'having a plurality of vertically spaced rows of .passages therethrough providing communication between the interior of`said magazine and said fiues, the passages in the lowerrnost of said rows being substantially larger than the others of 'said passages and being bounded on their loWermost side by said grate, projection means on said grate engaging opposite sides of said passages in said lowermost row to secure said lining and grate in fixed angular relation, the uppermost row of said rows of passages being adjacent but spaced from the top of said lining and being horizontally arranged to discharge gases from within said ues substantially directly into said magazine, the passages in the intermediate rows being inclined upwardly and outwardlly to convey gases from said magazine into said ues Without pocketing or accumulating ash therein, and means on said door providing a constantly open port for supplying air to the space above said magazine to support combustion of gases accumulating in said space.

BERTRAND B. KAI-IN. PAUL F. METZ.

REFEREIICES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Westlake et al. Feb. 12, 

